Ashley Cunningham was in a car accident in July 2012, and as a result is now recovering from an acquired brain injury (ABI). She was one of the participants at the ABI presentation hosted by the Haldimand Abilities Centre.

Presentation encourages those with acquired brain injuries

By Tamara Botting:

There are a number of facts and figures around acquired brain injuries (ABI), but behind all of them are people trying to rebuild a sense of ‘normal’ in their lives, some of whom have been doing so for years.

Recently, the Haldimand Abilities Centre (HAC) hosted an interactive presentation for individuals in Haldimand and Norfolk with ABIs called Acceptance: Embracing Me, Myself and All.

Brigitte Langlois, a social worker at Brain Injury Services in Hamilton, facilitated the presentation, assisted by Donald Panton and Hannah Peirce, third year social work students at McMaster University.

To start off, the audience was asked to share what ‘acceptance’ meant to them.

Answers varied from “taking what life gives you each day, the good and the bad,” to “feeling wanted in a group, not singled out.”

One participant noted, “Acceptance works on yourself, too.”

Panton encouraged the audience to “believe in your own worth, embrace the ‘new’ you, and recognize the progress you’ve made since your ABI.”

“We’ve all had a drastic change in our lives as a result of our ABI,” said one of the participants.

Langlois lead a discussion on the importance of focusing on different areas for better life management, including exercise, diet, relaxation, time and money management, coping skills and assertiveness.

“It can be difficult to communicate, keep your mind on track with an ABI,” said one participant.

“Part of asserting yourself can be asking people to give you a minute so you can express yourself,” said Langlois, adding, “Self-care is really important.”

Members of the audience were given several tasks to do to help them self-care.

One such task was to make ‘coping cards’ by writing down a motivational thought, word or phrase on a cue card and decorate it.

The mottos included ‘This too will pass’ and ‘I can do it!’

In closing, Panton said to the audience, “I encourage you to be gentle with yourself. How you achieve your recovery will be different than someone else. It is a life-long journey; allow your self-acceptance to take root and give it time to blossom. All of us are unique, and we all have different abilities.”